Flood, William G.

Flourished: Quincy, Illinois

In 1830, Flood was living in Quincy with four other people in his household. At the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832, Flood commanded a company of mounted volunteer militia. He represented Adams, Pike, and Hancock counties in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1832 to 1834. In 1834, Flood was elected to serve as engrossing and enrolling clerk of the Illinois Senate. Flood again represented Adams County in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1838 to 1840. In 1839, he was appointed by President Martin Van Buren to the post of register of the U.S. General Land Office at Quincy. Flood's concurrent holding of his legislative seat as well as a presidential appointment created political controversy in Illinois.

U.S. Census Office, Sixth Census of the United States (1840), Quincy Ward 2, Adams County, IL, 8; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 203, 207; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 6; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Adams County, 699:102, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Niles' National Register (Philadelphia, PA), 12 January 1839, 305; Summary of Legislative Debate on Appointment of Members of Legislature to Federal Office.